Mexico Cooks!

De Vaga en Veracruz, Tierra Jarocha :: Vacation Wanderings in Veracruz, Part III

On the way from coastal Casitas to Papantla--a drive of about an hour--you know we got hungry!  And what better to have for brunch than roadside tacos, Veracruz style: on the left is milanesa de pollo (lightly breaded and sliced chicken breast with rice, black beans, and salsa) and on the right, pollo deshebrado (boned, simmered, and shredded chicken) with the same condiments.  The tacos were truly wonderful, we were delighted with our we-got-lucky-with-roadside-tacos de guisado, home-style tacos filled with stew-y deliciousness.

The pyramid El Tajín was our very first stop in Papantla, Veracruz.  We went straight to the pyramid site, even before checking into our hotel!  El Tajín is not just one pyramid; the archeological site is an entire city. The name, in the Totonaco indigenous language, is believed to mean "place where temples join and smoke is constant", the latter due, to the long ago burning of copal incense in the temples.  The photo shows the pirámide de los nichos (Pyramid of the Niches). The name of the pyramid refers to the 365 "windows" placed on all sides of the structure; because the number corresponds to the number of days in a year, this pyramid has received tremendous attention from those who study the calendars and the cosmic vision of the ancient Totonaco inhabitants who, sometime between 1700 and 800 years ago, built this city.


Los Voladores de Papantla (The Papantla Flyers) practice this impressive spiritual ritual on the El Tajín grounds. We made a point to arrive in time for their daily exhibition; the rite had its 450-year-old origins as a form of prayer for rain after a severe drought which left the Totonaco people without food.  The Totonacos believe that these prayers to the rain gods brought life-saving rains back to the region. The prayer ceremony initially began with the cutting of a tree tall and straight enough for the flyers; today, the flyers climb the 30 meter high metal pole that you see in the photograph above.  Five men participate in this prayer; one remains on a platform at the top of the pole to play ritual music meant to mimic birdsong; the other four launch themselves from the platform to fly upside down to the ground.  There is ceremony and prayer form in every part of the rite.  The pole is the connection point between earth, the underworld, and the sky; the flyers represent the four cardinal points and the four elements (earth, air, water, and fire); each rope is wrapped 13 times around its flyer, and the flyers circle the pole 52 times, representing the length in weeks of the Mesoamerican great year.  All photos and videos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Los Voladores de Papantla in motion--with the musician playing his drum and flute on the platform!  Together, the five flyers form a living, moving pyramid.  Video copyright Mexico Cooks!.

In the Totonac region, the flyers are required to know and speak Totonaco.  Most boys and young men learn the rituals and the dances from their fathers and grandfathers. Mastering the ceremonies can take as long as 10 to 12 years and the flyers and dancers usually commit themselves for life. In this video, a boy no more than three years old carefully followed the steps and gestures of the dancers on the platform.  I asked; the boy is the son of one of the dancers, learning from his father and the rest of the group.  Video copyright Mexico Cooks!.


When we finished at El Tajín, we paid a visit to the well-known Totonaca cocinera tradicional (traditional cook) Martha Soledad Gómez Atzin at her cocina de humo (traditional kitchen where cooking is done over firewood), close to the pyramid site.  Her group, Las Mujeres de Humo, continues to give demonstrations and classes in Totonaco regional cooking.


The group of women (Las Mujeres de Humo) who work with Martha Gómez Atzin to preserve and protect the Totonaca kitchen.  

Beginning in 2000, the cocina de humo has formed a part of the international festival Cumbre Tajín, which promotes music, art, and traditional cuisine in northern Veracruz.  The Cumbre (summit) was founded under the impetus of the then-governor of Veracruz.  The realization of the event met with strong opposition from INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), from the custodians of the archeological site, from students at ENAH (the National School of Anthropology and History), and from the central organization of people and farm workers, all of whom believed that the festival was an illegal commercialization of archeological heritage.  Differences exist between those who believe that the festival is an exploitation rather than a preservation of tradition and who say that the festival itself damages the archeological site and the promoters, as opposed to those who applaud the festival as a tourist attraction and money-making proposition. The festival, despite its controversial nature, has persevered.

In 2001, Parque Takilhsukut, a theme park approximately one kilometer outside El Tajín archeological site, opened in answer to opposition to the Cumbre.  Most Cumbre events were moved to that park; only a nightly sound and light show continues at the pyramid site.  Although the government intended the theme park to be a center of indigenous life and tradition, the only activity the day we were there was at the cocina de humo. Sra. Atzin and her group of cocineras tradicionales were cooking comida (the main meal of the day in Mexico) for themselves, but no group of students or guests was in the kitchen.  Sra. Atzin talked extensively to me about the Veracruz government's failure to continue funding and support for their efforts.  Until fairly recently, the cocina de humo offered many buzzing classes to school children and older people alike, including transportation from their towns to the theme park.  Today, the bankrupt Veracruz government has no funds to offer. 


In the pot are tamales pintos, a Totonaco specialty that wraps a mixture of fresh, light masa (corn dough) with newly harvested, tender black and white beans known as pintos ('painted') in hoja de plátano (banana leaves).  Las mujeres de humo treated us to the first two delicious pintos to come out of the pot.


Preparing the rest of the midday meal.  

Next week, come with Mexico Cooks! on the last leg of this journey in Veracruz: vanilla production in Papantla! We learned more about the origin, harvest, and importance of vanilla than we thought possible, and so will you.  Plus, we ate regional Totonaca food that we're still dreaming about, and prolonged our trip till we really couldn't stay longer.  Such fun!

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De Vaga en Veracruz, Tierra Jarocha :: Vacation Wanderings in Veracruz, Part II

After leaving Puerto de Veracruz, our next stop was the town of Coatepec, high in the coffee-producing mountains of central Veracruz state. We stayed just outside the town, at Eco-Hotel La Jicarita (hee-cah-REE-tah).  The property at La Jicarita is beautiful, planted with native trees and flowers (and shade-grown coffee).  You'll find hiking paths, a swimming pool, and delicious Veracruz breakfasts (not included in the room cost).  Although the rooms and bathrooms are fairly primitive, the beds are quite comfortable.  The rooms are inexpensive and the management works hard to please guests.  The photo, courtesy Hotels.com, is the outside of the room where I actually stayed.

Coatepec is just about equidistant between Xalapa (the Veracruz state capital) and Xico (a charming provincial town known for its mole), and was an ideal place to stay in order to visit all three towns.  

Before the trip, several friends who are from the Xalapa area recommended with great enthusiasm the breakfasts at the Hotel Mesón de Alférez, in Xalapa.  The restaurant is charming and service was attentive, but what we ate left something to be desired.  There was nothing exactly wrong with it, but we had hoped, given the high recommendations, that the food would be more regional and of higher quality.


After we finished breakfast in Xalapa, we went to the Xalapa Museo de Antropología primarily to see the display of colossal Olmec heads. The heads, carved of basalt and estimated to date between 1400 and 900 B.C.E.,  range in height from just under five feet to just over eleven feet and weigh between six and fifty tons apiece.  Seventeen--or possibly 18--heads are known to exist.  The color variation in the photo is due to the lighting of the displays.


The original Olmec head comes from Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, a town near the Papaloapan River (upper left in the map).  The area in the map is the original Olmec territory.  According to archeological notes seen in the Xalapa museum, the American archeologist M. W. Stirling and his team found the head face up at the bottom of a canyon in 1938.  Some scholars dispute this version of the find, and some say that a Mexican traveler accidentally discovered the first known Olmec head in 1861, but that the find was kept secret until the mid-1940s.     


Each of the heads is a portrait of a distinctly different Olmec man; each wears a helmet.  Theories about who these men were (warriors, rulers, ballplayers--one now-debunked theorist even believed that they might be Africans) have never been proven.  The Olmecs brought the basalt used to sculpt the heads as many as 150 kilometers to the site where carving took place, dragging the raw stone with ropes and rudimentary wheels.


Excavation of a  monumental Olmec head.  The photo appears to be original, but the website where Mexico Cooks! found it is full of astonishing and probably inaccurate and misleading information.  Read at your own risk.  Photo courtesy MessagetoEagle.com.  

Writing the basic description of the Olmec heads is merely reporting data.  The personal impact of standing in front of these giants is extraordinarily moving and difficult to put into words.  Once we were on the street, we saw that the faces carved in stone and many present-day faces of the area men and women are the same as these colossals: strong, individual personalities in ancient stone and in modern-day flesh and bone.  
   

While in Coatepec, we had the great pleasure of a visit to Panadería El Resobado, one of the few remaining commercial bakeries in Mexico using wood-fired ovens. The bakery opened for business more than a century ago; its ovens have not been allowed to cool in more than 25 years.   


We were completely entranced with El Resobado. The bakery is faithful to its traditions: to make delicious bread with the flour, sugar, and yeast, the basic ingredients. People say that the best breads at El Resobado are the conchas (shells)--and that if you should be stricken with hunger in the middle of the night, don't worry: the bakery is open 24 hours a day!  


One of the several ovens at El Resobado, ready for baking the next load of bread.  To judge the oven temperature, the skilled bakers stick their hands and forearms in--the bakers' experience is so great that they don't need oven thermometers.


Bread dough, kneaded, shaped, cut, and ready to be separated for baking.


Shelves at El Resobado, loaded with hot, fresh-from-the-oven conchas.  We bought a huge bag of many kinds of bread; we were struck by the unusual smokiness of what we tried.  


Some of the many cats that live at El Rebosado.  We were a group of crazy cat ladies and truly appreciated their gentle feline presence.  The bakery is a mouse-free zone! Photo courtesy Pamela Gordon.


Also in Coatepec, we visited Museo El Cafetal to see the process of growing, harvesting, roasting, and grinding Veracruz's high altitude, shade-grown coffee.  Museum admission charge is 40 pesos and worth every centavo. Photo courtesy Museo El Cafetal. 


Coffee beans against a tree trunk at the Museo El Cafetal. Photo by Mexico Cooks!.


Coatepec also boasts an orchid museum--a private collection in a private home.  This photo shows less than a quarter of the collection.  

After two nights in Coatepec, we moved on to Casitas, on the Gulf of Mexico.  We'd had some drizzle in Coatepec, but we arrived in Casitas to discover that the coast had suffered a tremendous storm the night before.  Although we'd been looking forward to sunshine, the beach, and the humid heat that Veracruz is famous for, instead we had grey skies, churned-up Gulf water, and weather unsuitable for swimming.  

We settled for driving to nearby San Rafael, which has the reputation of being a French-influenced town due to French settlement there in the 1840s.  We asked every adult on the streets about how to find a hint of Frenchness, but nobody knew.    


Here's what we did find: a carnicería (butcher shop) with a really wonderful sign.  Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view; the sign painter had a field day with accents!  Two charming young women behind the butcher counter let us taste their version of carnitas.  Verdict: not bad for Veracruz, but definitely not carnitas from the state of Michoacán, where carnitas originated.

Next week, come with Mexico Cooks! to Papantla, Veracruz, where we investigated regional food and vanilla.  We'd planned to stay one night and ended by staying three!  We had a marvelous time and truly wanted to stay even longer.

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De Vaga en Veracruz, Tierra Jarocha :: Vacation Wanderings in Veracruz, Part I

On the malecón (pier) in the port of Veracruz.  Mexican president Venustiano Carranza used this lighthouse building, built at the turn of the 20th century, as the Palacio Nacional (federal government offices) from 1914 to 1915. During that short period, the city of Veracruz was the nation's capital. Today, the Faro Venustiano Carranza (lighthouse of Venustiano Carranza) serves as part of Mexico's naval headquarters. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Directly across the street from the lovely old building in the photo above, the hyper-modern port of Veracruz receives and sends enormous quantities of goods to and from everywhere in the world.

Vacation!  And not just vacation, but vacation in Veracruz, one of Mexico's most beautiful states--I was so excited at the prospect of re-visiting the Puerto de Veracruz (port city), where I had not been since about 1994.  Two friends and I carefully chose two weeks for travel that would not be too hot, not be too humid: the temperatures along the Veracruz coast can range as high as more than 100ºF, with humidity equally high. Even during the second and third weeks of December, the high temperatures were in the mid-80s and the humidity was in that same range or higher.  Did we get used to it?  Not so much, but we definitely enjoyed a most fascinating trip together.  From the Puerto to the mountain towns of Xalapa, Coatepec, and Xico, and from the Córdoba flanks of the Pico de Orizaba (Mexico's highest mountain, an inactive volcano) to Papantla, the land of vanilla's origin, we traveled and learned.  And ate. And ate some more. Come along!


One of our group seriously craved and insisted on breakfast at La Parroquia.  In researching the trip, I'd read that this old-time restaurant was muy de caída (had gone a long way down hill), but oh my goodness, our first breakfast in Veracruz was fantastic.


La Parroquia is most noted for its ritual lechero--freshly brewed Veracruz-grown coffee, poured from on high to the level you prefer in your glass, the glass then filled (again, from on high) with steaming hot milk.  This first morning, the coffee wowed all three of us.


Hot milk from the heights!  Photo courtesy Mexico Destinos.


The place was jam-packed for breakfast; there was no sign of a down-hill slide in quality or quantity the late-morning we were at La Parroquia.  Best of all, our server, don Galindo, was a real treasure-trove of knowledge about the area.  He directed us to--well, we'll go there next week on Mexico Cooks!.


Among many other regional specialties on the breakfast menu, the house special tortilla parroquia intrigued us. It's a tortilla española (Spanish-style omelet with egg and potato), cooked and then submerged in rich turkey broth. It's topped with shredded turkey, grilled onion, and chile serrano toreado (lightly fried in oil until the skin blisters and the chile is soft).  Doesn't it sound odd?  We were entranced by the flavor combination!  Just writing about it makes me want another one right now!  


Gorda negra with cheese, from La Parroquia.

We also requested other Parroquia specialties: gordas negras (corn tortilla dough combined with finely ground cooked black beans), patted out or pressed to form tortillas a bit thicker than usual.  These are then fried in oil until they inflate and are served with salsa and cheese or cream. We also ordered gordas dulces (corn dough mixed with a little flour, a pinch of baking soda, and quite a bit of brown sugar), patted out and fried the same as the gordas negras, and served with thick grated mild white cheese and salsa.  We also asked for what turned out to be a perfect plate of huevos motuleños, specialty of the Yucatán peninsula.  We relished everything, shared among us, along with freshly squeezed super-sweet orange juice (the state of Veracruz produces nearly 40% of the oranges grown in Mexico) plus a second glass of lechero filled us to the brim.


That night, we enjoyed watching danzón in the Puerto de Veracruz zócalo.  The group of both dancers and spectators was small but happy. Danzón is the official dance of Cuba and also very, very popular in Mexico.  

Just to show you the dance form, here's a danzón video from Guadalajara, where one can danzón (or take inexpensive danzón classes) every Sunday evening in the plaza just in front of the Templo Expiatorio, at the corner of Calle López Cotilla and Av. Enrique Díaz de León.  


In our meanderings close to the port city, we happened upon an island restaurant in tiny Mandinga-Alvarado. "Happened upon" is, of course, a euphemism for "asked everybody in the general area where to find it".  Once we found the town of Mandinga, population approximately 1500, we stopped at the town taxi stand and asked a cabbie for directions to the restaurant, Isla Paraíso.  He had no idea! Another fellow approached the car and said he'd guide us; he went running down the street ahead of our car and led us right to this bridge.  We walked across into a world apart: Isla Paraíso opened nearly 40 years ago and is still going strong.  


Mandinga is famous world-wide for its oysters.  The oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is harvested throughout the entire Eastern coast of North America, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, including huge daily harvests from the Mandinga lagoon.  Of course we had to eat a plateful.


The specialty of the house at Restaurante Isla Paraíso, oysters cooked in various ways and, in this case, served as an appetizer.


The restaurant owner, Patricia Waters Mújica, is British. Her Mexican husband, who passed away just a few years ago, met her in England and moved her and their family to Puebla, then to Australia, then to the Puerto de Veracruz--and ultimately to Mandinga, after many fascinating life adventures.  They opened the restaurant, and Patsy has lived in tiny Mandinga all that time, raising their two daughters and running the restaurant. It was a delight to spend the afternoon and evening hearing her story.  


Our last morning in the Puerto de Veracruz, we once again had breakfast at La Parroquia.  This time, the restaurant unfortunately lived up to its current way-down-hill reputation.  Almost everything we ordered, including this repeat plate of huevos motuleños, was far, far below the quality of what we ate the first morning.  Even the coffee was disappointing. We shared the opinion that had this been our initial breakfast, we wouldn't have returned.  

Next week, come back for much more de vaca y de vaga (vacation and wandering around) in central Veracruz.

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Popcorn, The Original Mexican Corn. Maíz Palomero, El Máiz Original de México

This article originally published in Mexico Cooks! on January 21, 2017.  Due to world political events beyond our control, very few people initially read it. Welcome us back today, just as we welcome you back, with a second opportunity to learn about this urgently important movement in Mexico!

From the un-popped kernel to the fully popped microwave-able snack treat, popcorn's evolution is many millennia old.  Popcorn was the first corn in Mexico, domesticated at least 5000 years before the common era. In other words, the cultivation of popcorn is at least 7,000 years old--and probably closer to 11,000 years old!


The non-profit organization Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana, founded by my dear friend Rafael Mier, celebrated its first birthday on November 17, 2016.  In the single year of its existence, the group has gathered together more than 153,000 followers on Facebook.  Every one of these followers, people from all over Mexico, from Guatemala, and from other countries in Central and South America, is nervous about the decline of the tortilla, the possible loss of Mexico's native corns as well as those where they live, and the near-extinction of popcorn: Mexico's original corn. Here's the link to the group; please join! Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana

Update: just prior to publication of this article, membership in the Facebook group Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana jumped to over 200,000 members!  There is plenty of room for more, join up!


Two of the first beautiful ears of maíz palomero toluqueño (popcorn from Toluca, Mexico) that the preservation team harvested in late September, 2016. 


This basket is filled to overflowing with maíz palomero (Mexican popcorn), seed sourced and sown in the State of Mexico by my colleague maestro Rafael Mier and his team of assistants: harvested on September 25, 2016, a day to remember.  The thrill of being just a tiny part of this project makes my heart skip a beat! 


One ear of maíz palomero rests in the palm of my hand. The photo gives you a good idea of the size of these ears; compared to the size of USA-grown hybrid ears, these are tiny.  USA growers have hybridized popcorn to give a large ear that yields more popcorn in a smaller planting area. Popcorn, however, has been hybridized, not genetically modified. There is NO GMO popcorn.  Think otherwise? Google is your friend!

Obtaining the popcorn seed was the result of an exhaustive investigation in which he traveled to different small towns around Toluca (in years gone by, a tremendous source of Mexican popcorn) to obtain the grain. To Mier's great surprise, almost no one had kept any seed from former plantings.  Popcorn truly was on the verge of extinction.  Mier explained, "The United States is the leader in popcorn production, the popcorn business in that country has dedicated itself hugely to the grain’s development. Mexico could have the power. We are only lacking programs that push a viable cultivation of the varieties that are in Toluca, Chihuahua, and Jalisco. With those, we could satisfy the national demand.”


Here's Mexico Cooks! as part of the very first harvest of Mexican-grown popcorn in the grand project of saving this original Mexican corn from extinction.  I was so, so excited to peel back the green husks of this ear of popcorn, harvested just moments earlier, and see the tiny ears grown from 50-year-old seed.  Yes!  CIMMYT (International Maize and White Improvement), an international seed bank with research facilities near Mexico City, gave Maestro Rafael enough banked, refrigerated seed to plant several small parcelas (sections of land) with popcorn.

These tiny dehydrated olotes (corn cobs)--each measures two to three inches long--were discovered in 1965 in the cave near Coxcatlán, Puebla, and are on daily exhibit at the Tehuacán (Puebla) Museo del Maíz (Corn Museum). For more information about this cave and its agricultural and archeological importance, please see Mexico Cooks!' article dated October 1, 2016.  These corn cobs are carbon-dated to approximately 5,000 B.C.E. All photos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.


One huge pot filled with popcorn, a direct descendent of Mexico's very first corn: maíz palomero (popcorn). Today, many thousands of years after Mexico's great-great-a thousand times-great-grandparents domesticated maíz palomero, 95% of all popcorn grows north of the Mexican border.  Popcorn has crossed the border into the United States of America and become one of the USA's most popular exports.  Photo courtesy Lori Lange.

Popcorn is a simple food that we associate with snacking and with moments of entertainment. Who doesn’t want some buttered, salted popcorn at the movies, or while enjoying a day at the fair? Long ago in what is now Mexico, popcorn was already a treat: they were called “corn flowers” and according to the 16th century chronicles of Fray Bernadino de Sahagún, popcorn was sold in what is now Mexico’s plazas and was used as necklaces and in rituals. People did eat it, of course, but its consumption was not recreation-based.  

In this beautiful and evocative video, Maestro Rafael explains what has happened to Mexico's maíz palomero and what he and others, including myself, are doing to save Mexican popcorn from extinction.  Even if you don't understand Spanish, you'll be able to watch the process of planting and harvest.  Video courtesy Rafael Mier.

Despite the fact that Mexico is the country of origin of all corns, including popcorn, less than 2% of the popcorn eaten in Mexico today is grown here. The enormous majority comes from the United States of America, with a much smaller amount imported from Argentina. “In Mexico, over time we’ve lost the planting of this corn,” comments Rafael Mier. “Sowing popcorn is difficult work now because our native seed is all but extinct,” he says. He and his team are working every day to reverse Mexican popcorn's slide into extinction. Photo: invitation to the November 17, 2016 public presentation of the popcorn project.  

The best way to get involved in this project is to join the Facebook group Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana.  If you'd rather not use Facebook, subscribe to Mexico Cooks!.  How? Look at the right-hand side of this page: you'll see a box titled, Share Mexico Cooks with Your Friends. In that box, there's a link called, "Subscribe to this blog's feed". Click on that, then follow the simple instructions. Mexico Cooks! will arrive in your email inbox every Saturday morning at about ten o'clock.

We look forward to having you as part of the Mexican popcorn and tortilla team!  During 2017, Mexico Cooks!' 11th consecutive year on line, you'll see a lot more about what we're doing in this initiative.

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